In a horrifying display of anti-Americanism and historical ignorance, we watched the president of these United States give succor to white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis who descended, torches in hand, on Charlottesville, Va., last weekend.

Donald Trump once again, in suggesting that there was equivalency between those spewing hatred, bigotry and intolerance and those who marched to condemn that behavior, used his bully pulpit to signal to the indefensible that they have a powerful champion in the White House. The friends and families of the victims of the hate crime perpetrated in Charlottesville and a grieving nation could only watch in disbelief as a president failed to calm and comfort.

Of course there is no equivalency, and now there must be no equivocating. A vociferous and united condemnation of the president’s behavior by our lawmakers and those who serve this administration is the order of the day. Anything short of that is cowardly and an unacceptable dereliction of duty.

FELICIA MASSARSKYATLANTIC CITY

To the Editor:

President Trump asked “where does it stop?” after speculating that the statues of Washington and Jefferson will be taken down next.

Is it really possible that our president does not distinguish between our nation’s founders, who risked (and sometimes lost) their lives and fortunes to create our country, with defeated traitors who sought to destroy the country primarily to preserve slavery?

IRA BELSKY, FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J.

To the Editor:

While I am sure that most people wholeheartedly condemn the terror attack in Charlottesville and disagree strongly with the white supremacists and neo-Nazis, I am at a loss to understand or explain why the media and politicians are so strident in their criticism of President Trump for talking about extremists and violence on both sides.

The media have portrayed those demonstrating against the white supremacists as making a peaceful protest. But television footage shows banners like “smash Fascism.” It was quite clear that some of the so-called peaceful demonstrators were looking for trouble and intended a violent confrontation.

I congratulate Mr. Trump for having the backbone to stand up against the politically correct and for pointing out that all those involved in the troubles in Charlottesville were equally culpable.

RAY WARRENMANDURAH, AUSTRALIA

To the Editor:

Are the next steps in President Trump’s moral-equivalency equation that the slaves were equally responsible for the Civil War and the Jews equally responsible for World War II?

TOM BARNARDSHAKER HEIGHTS, OHIO

To the Editor:

One of the most telling sentences in “Giving White Supremacists an Unequivocal Boost” (front page, Aug. 16) described staff members as “stunned” to hear President Trump express opinions that he had “long expressed in private.” This speaks volumes about their moral cowardice. How long had he been expressing his vile opinions without challenge or rebuke from those around him?

These are not people who depend on a White House job for their livelihoods. More than most working Americans, they are free to leave an abusive workplace. Every day they remain under Mr. Trump is another day that condemns them as silent partners in his never-ending campaign of hatred, bile and bigotry.

ISAAC SEGAL, CHERRY HILL, N.J.

To the Editor:

As a Jewish psychiatrist born right after World War II, I never thought I would ever use Germany as a model for the United States to follow in regard to white nationalists and anti-Semitism. And yet, how Germany has recovered and transformed necessitates that.

We need to outlaw public displays of neo-Nazism: no Confederate flag-waving, no torchlight parade chanting “Jews will not replace us,” no hate speech and no heil Hitler salutes. We need to give the white nationalists not a boost but the boot!

H. STEVEN MOFFIC, MILWAUKEE

To the Editor:

President Trump has no moral compass, and the Republican-led Congress has forfeited its moral authority in order to stay in power. Our former living presidents — Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — are moral men. They should hold a joint news conference condemning the alt-right rhetoric at the Charlottesville rally as completely unacceptable for all Americans.

JAN SILVER, SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y.

To the Editor:

If nothing else, President Trump’s performance should finally end the punditocracy’s pleas to understand the pain and despair of all those Trump voters: “They’re responding to his economic message, not his racist dog whistles.” Please. These voters knew exactly what they were getting, and they couldn’t be more pleased. They may not be fanatical enough to show up in Charlottesville with automatic weapons, but they were certainly there in spirit.

And so it’s time for the proverbial national gaze into the mirror, the collective soul-searching. Who really are we as a people? We’ve averted our gaze so far, but we’re long past the time for a reckoning.

JAY SILBERMAN, HONOLULU

To the Editor:

President Trump’s letting his true feelings out at his news conference on Tuesday reminds me of the scene in “Dr. Strangelove,” played by Peter Sellers, in which he struggles to keep his arm at his side. But his arm has a mind of its own and finally frees itself into a Nazi salute.

JUDITH SCHAFFNER, NEW YORK

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: Fighting Words on Charlottesville. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe